30. Daily Activity Schedule: When you’re depressed, everything seems overwhelming, and nothing seems worth doing, so you may give up on life. The Daily Activity Schedule can help you overcome do-nothingism. Record what you do each hour from the time you get up in the morning to the time you go to bed at night. Rate how satisfying each activity was on a scale from 0 (not at all satisfying) to 5 (the most satisfying). A review of the schedule will show you which activities boost your mood the most.

31. Pleasure Predicting Sheet: Schedule a series of activities with the potential for pleasure, learning, or personal growth. Indicate whom you plan to do each activity with. Include activites you can do by yourself (such as jogging) as well as activities with other people. Predict how satisfying each activity will be on a scale from 0% (the least) to 100% (the most). After you complete each activity, record how satisfying it actually turned out to be on the same scale. Now compare your actual satisfaction ratings with your predictions. Many depressed people find that lots of activities turn out to be more rewarding than they predicted. This discovery can boost your motivation. You can also compare the satisfaction you get from being alone with the satisfaction you get from being with other people. This can help you test Self-Defeating Beliefs such as, “If I’m alone, I’m bound to feel miserable. ”